


No Stitches, No Broken Bones

by andygreen



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-01
Updated: 2019-08-01
Packaged: 2020-07-28 21:48:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20071111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andygreen/pseuds/andygreen
Summary: Tumblr user requested some Josh Russo. The reader, a coworker of Josh and Maddie at the call center, is in a minor car accident that causes a certain dispatcher to worry a little too much. Just a few scratches and someone asking someone on a date!





	No Stitches, No Broken Bones

“9-1-1, what’s your emergency?” The familiar voice of your coworker, Maddie, met your ears and you breathed out a sigh of relief. That question, one that you repeated on auto-pilot again and again and again each day, never bothered you. Neither did Maddie’s voice; it was actually comforting and calming, a much welcomed sound in the middle of a hectic day or at the end of a painful call. But now? Now that was the last thing you wanted to hear, the last question and voice you wanted to hear. You just wanted to get from the bank to work in one piece and go about your day as normal, you didn’t want your day to be thrown off track and deal with all of this stress.

“Maddie? Oh, thank God! It’s me, it’s (Y/N). I’ve been in a car accident, I don’t think it’s too serious, I can still feel my toes and wiggle them. I’m too scared to look down, my arm is covered in blood and—“ You rushed out in a quick breath, unable to look down at yourself for a second time after seeing blood in the first glance. Looking out the hole where your window to your left should be at the red pickup truck that hit you and the enraged man stepping out of the driver’s seat, your heart rate picked up and you couldn’t seem to bring in enough air to your lungs. You hoped he would focus on himself and his car and leave you alone to wait for help. “I’m on the corner of South Azure Avenue and Pepperbrook Way.”

“I’ve dispatched the 118 to you, hang in there, Buck will be there soon. Oh, and I’ll tell Josh,” Maddie informed you, hoping her brother would be a familiar face to help you calm down. She was right, knowing Buck and the other team members of the 118 would be the ones to find you and help you put you at ease. It was easier to talk to and be treated by familiar faces, your best friend’s brother would surely crack a joke or two to take your mind off of this crappy situation. But on the other side, the thought of Josh made your stomach flip, made you worry about what he would say or do. You didn’t want to hear a “why are you telling me?” on the other end of the line.

“Tell Josh what?” He asked in passing, conveniently always right where he needed to be. With a look over Maddie’s shoulder at the screen, he was able to scan the information and recognize your personal cell phone number. He nodded slowly to himself, his brain taking a few seconds to truly process the information he saw: your name, your phone number, car accident, driver injured. He stilled, breath catching in his throat and fingers tightly gripping the back of Maddie’s chair. He was already moving, on his way out the door when he shot a glance over his shoulder to Maddie. “I’m taking my lunch break,” he said, sounding distant and distracted.

She knew, Maddie knew everything around the office, but mostly because she was good friends with both you and Josh. She knew about the crushes you were both harboring for one another but wouldn’t act on because he was your superior and that was frowned upon, no matter how professional you two would be at work. She was sick of hearing both of you say some version of that, sick of the excuses you both came up with to justify putting off the inevitable and hiding the truth. You knew how important it was to separate your home and work lives, every first responder did; it was what you had to do to survive the job. It wasn’t like two 9-1-1 dispatchers would face the same problems as two officers or firefighters in a relationship in the same job.

You couldn’t bring yourself to get out of your car, even though you knew your neck and spine and head were okay, not until after Hen and Chim poked and prodded you to give you the all clear. The questions, the pressure to various parts of your body, and the bright light shining in your eyes were nothing to you, you barely noticed it when you were too occupied thinking about Josh. He was probably going about work as normal, you’d see him in a day or two when you went back. Buck lead you to the ambulance where he sat with you while Hen cleaned and bandaged the cuts on your arms and chest from the shattered window and you thanked every higher being and star in the sky that no glass got stuck in you. The cleaning solution hurt worse than the impact, now that the adrenaline was wearing off and you were aware of all that was happening.

Meanwhile, Josh was stuck behind some woman at the nearest stoplight who was texting instead of paying attention to the light, causing him to curse loudly and he slammed his palm against the center of the steering wheel to honk the horn. His knuckles turned white while he drove, his grip tightening as his mind raced with thoughts about you. What happened? Were you okay? What if the worst happened? That was normal, normal things to think and worry about in regards to a coworker, nothing more. It was friendly concern and friendly racing to an accident scene to check on you. Normal. Friendly.

Buck’s jokes were met with half-hearted laughs and distracted nods, not that he noticed because he was laughing at his own jokes like they were the funniest thing he heard. Hen laughed, too, not because the jokes were funny but because Buck was kind of her friend and she wanted to be supportive. Okay, it’s because his jokes were so awful that it was impossible not to laugh at. Buck and Hen bowed out with a pat on the leg and a friendly smile when Josh showed up, barely remembering to put his car in park as he pulled up to the scene. He had to resist the urge to pull you into his arms, to hug you, to make sure you were safe and you had to resist the urge to get up, to fall into him, to hold him close until you forgot your morning trip to the bank. You and him had been dancing around each other for too long, even Carrie from accounting and Joe the janitor would roll their eyes at you two when they caught an almost intimate but utterly awkward encounter.

“Maddie told me you got in an accident, I had to… I had the afternoon off so I thought I’d stop by to check on you,” he lied as he took a cautious step closer and suddenly you could see everything Maddie told you, everything you couldn’t see, no, refused to see, before. You could tell when he was lying, knew his voice and ticks from his calls when he tried to reassure people things would be okay when they clearly wouldn’t be. And… Screw it. Now was as good of a time as any to take a leap of faith, to take a risk and reap the rewards. It wouldn’t be easy but it helped to still have post-car accident adrenaline coursing through your veins making you feel like maybe, just maybe, everything would work out.

“I’m fine, just a few little scratches. No stitches, no broken bones,” you reassured him with a warm smile as you got up from your spot sitting on the edge of the ambulance. Holding up your arms to show the few bandages, you proved that you were truly okay. You boldly took a step forward to get closer to him, to close the respectful work colleague gap in favor of breaching into the I-want-more zone. “Since you have the afternoon off,” you began, a hint of sarcasm and knowing to your voice, before adding on, “let’s go to lunch. A date.”

“Will I get a kiss at the end?” Josh asked with a wide grin and a suggestive eyebrow wiggle. He offered his hand, which you gladly took, and led you away from the accident scene. Or a few feet away from the ambulance, which allowed Hen and Chim to clean up and pack up their gear. The other paramedics across the street were dealing with the angry man, having a much less pleasant time than anyone else. You felt bad for them, knew their job was hard enough without the difficult, whiny assholes yelling and waving their arms around.

“Only if you take me home,” you answered, happy to finally be going on a date with the man you had spent too much time staring at from afar. The nights in bed spent thinking about break room conversations and morning walks in when you happened to park next to one another. The pre-planned conversations and moments you rehearsed saying “good morning, Josh” in the mirror no one would ever know about. You were stopped by a woman who came to stand in front of you, block you from leaving. “I was hoping to do this later,” you offered up hopefully only to be met with an amused laugh.

“Uh-uh, honey, no special treatment. You have to answer questions, fill out your report,” Sargeant Athena Grant said and you groaned in response, reminding her of the times she would tell her teenage daughter no and be met with an attitude. You knew you would have to fill out an accident report, answer questions but you hoped you could go to the station after lunch or later in the day. Anytime other than now when you were about to finally go on a date with Josh. You were so close! At least Athena had the decency to look a little guilty from pulling you away at the worst time to take care of the worst paperwork after the worst morning.

“Go, I’ll wait for you,” Josh promised, grateful to take a minute to call into work to take the rest of the day off. He didn’t even have to come up with a lie, everyone in the office was so happy that you two finally made a move. The betting pool, after way too long, finally closed and the one patient winner was thrilled to win the whole pot. Yeah, Maddie was the worst friend for getting $300 richer betting on your love life. And if Maddie greeted you the next day with a knowing grin and nudge, you couldn’t bring yourself to mind one bit. Especially not when you caught Josh smiling at you from his desk.


End file.
